Q: How do spammers get a mailing list address?

Answer

Mailing lists are obtained through a number of fairly simple methods:

• some list names are easy to guess, for example, FINANCE@SOMEDOMAIN.COM might work, as many companies have a Finance Department;
• some list names are included, for customer convenience, on web sites that advertise products and services -- unfortunately, spammers find these web sites convenient as well;
• some list names are provided by disgruntled employees* or students to the evil site operators as a way of harassing a group or* organization.

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Related Information

See related Spam questions on this wiki by searching for the keywords "spam" or "c-email".